Purple Passages made its debut on July 10. Here is the August 10, 2013 installment.
Why people read
1.7.94 We read books to know we are not alone. William Nicholson
Love to children
4.2.89 The love you give your children is like black paper: it absorbs and you can’t see it, but you know it’s there. Mary Kalegis
My Hometown
7.27.91 Jacksonville . . . an Oz of blue-green skyscrapers, a city of dreams at the end of the pine-green tunnel . . . shines from a number of angles like a jewel being turned in your hand. John Updike, Rabbit at Rest
On Relationships
10.21.91 Relationships with the opposite sex reflect our efforts to find answers for problems with our parents. Relationships with our friends represent our efforts to find solutions for problems with our siblings. (Quoted by Shirley McLaine, who undoubtedly quoted from someone else.)
On Sanity
7.19.92 It occurred to her that her sanity was becoming intermittent, like a sudden stretch of intact road in an abandoned region. Or radio music, blatant after months of static. K. Braverman, Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta
On Birthdays
2.10.96 The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose the other ages you’ve been. Madeleine L’Engle
On Angels
5.8.97 Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. G. K. Chesterton
On Hope
7.11.95 As long as matters are hopeful, hope is a mere . . . platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength. Like all Christian virtues, it is as unreasonable as it is indispensable. G. K. Chesterton, Heretics
Make one of your own!
Well, you can coin a new quote, but you could also begin or continue your own journal of purple passages:
White pages would be easier, or computer pages with a pale purple background. How about it?
Plain and Fancy 